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Enicio Vargas
The grey-haired man in the red uniform stands, his red eyes burn like embers as they look down upon you. "You may be ignorant now, but I'll make a soldier of you yet." Enicio Vargas was a Major in the United Laurasian Defence Force base at Avenida, and an old teammate of Alejandra and Ballantino Rogaceu. The strained relationship between Vargas the two Rogaceu came to a violent head when the Major ordered Alejandra's oldest son Julio to his death. Some time after this event, Vargas left Avenida in order to seek out the Cinder Man and harness his power. However, the Cinder Man killed Vargas and its demonic spirit possessed him and his elite team. In this guise Vargas was defeated by the Pathfinders in Mirtul 2113. Despite their history, at the end Alejandra fought to save Vargas, and her intervention prevented his soul from being claimed by a powerful Balor. Shortly after his death, two priestesses of Sarenrae arrived in Willowdale to collect Vargas' body for internment at the Sandstone Wall. Before the priestesses claimed the body, Alejandra used Speak with Dead to have one last conversation with him. In this conversation Vargas instructed Alejandra to defend Laurasia from the creatures of anger that remained in the world. He also claimed that he had ordered Julio to his death due to a perceived weakness in the boy's character, though Vargas' dead spirit admitted that given his own failings he was perhaps not in a position to judge others. History Though they fought on the battlefield together for a long time, Alejandra and Vargas never much cared for each other's attitudes. Alejandra believed Vargas to be a man of cruelty, willing to sacrifice anything for a victory, while Vargas saw Alejandra as a coward who neither understood warfare nor acknowledged her duties as a soldier. That division led to a tragic end when Alejandra's son Julio was placed under Vargas' command when the former first joined the ULDF, and Vargas knowingly sent Julio to his death on his first mission. Though an investigation was launched and Vargas was brought to military court, he was not charged with any wrongdoing and continued his advance through the ranks of the ULDF. Vargas, in his youth, was a brown-haired red-eyed boy who had a preference for fighting with single one-handed weapons and wore light armor that would not compromise his impressive speed. He often expressed a great hatred for the hobgoblin invaders and dreamed of driving them from Laurasia entirely. At the time of his death his hair had greyed and he wore a formal major's uniform, foregoing heavier armour completely and using a scimitar to particularly fearsome effect, as his age had not mitigated his terrifying speed even slightly. His temper had also cooled and he fought with a quieter, though no less powerful, intensity. He trained for combat daily and maintained combat preparedness under any and all situations. His cadre of soldiers he trained harder than most other commanders of his rank would, and their combined combative and tactical prowess earned them the reputation of an elite unit colloquially referred to as the "Deathstalkers." Possession He was last reported moving north in pursuit of the legendary Cinder Man, though his team had not sent any reports back to base since at least the beginning of Uktar. Attempts to scry on Vargas produced only images of the Cinder Man leading a small force of men whose bodies are alight with fire, some of them carrying banners of Avenida. By analyzing the visible stars, the location of this scene was determined: a particular area south of the Willowdale gate. In a shocking turn of events, Djinn of Djinn revealed that Vargas and his men had been consumed by the Cinder Man, and that he and the Cinder Man were one and the same. Vargas later spoke to Alejandra and her companions when they encountered one another in the Hyrcanian Desert, where he claimed that he killed Julio due to the latter's weakness, and that Alejandra's ideals were a blight on the armed forces. He also said that his new post as the Cinder Man was a divine gift, and that he has since realized that Avenida alone would never be able to kill all of the hobgoblins. When Alejandra told him that she did not want to fight him, he simply responded "I think you do;" when Jura tried to argue that he was obviously not being granted his power by Sarenrae, he ordered his men to advance. Alejandra was concerned by his change in power since his transformation: he was able to channel negative energy through his blade, and set the earth alight with fire where he walked. However, what absolutely terrified Alejandra was his change in personality. While the old Vargas hid from the truth and lied to preserve his position, the new Vargas embraced what he had done and accepted what he believed to be Avenida's destiny; this seemed to give him the resolve to fight harder than ever. On speaking with Jura about Vargas, Alejandra noted that his hatred was not rooted in a thirst for vengeance or even bloodlust, but rather the expectations of his family and the military culture of Avenida. Vargas' family has many decorated soldiers, and he more than likely grew up with a hatred of hobgoblins that was nurtured by them. On the Pathfinders' final encounter with Vargas, Alejandra appealed to the spirit of Vargas within the Cinder Man. However, verbal appeals were useless; it was only when Ballantino severed Vargas' remaining link to Sarenrae that the power of the Cinder Man left him. At his defeat a powerful demon appeared to claim Vargas' soul. Alejandra made a counter-claim, arguing that mortals should hold Vargas to answer for his mortal crimes. At her urging the Pathfinders were able to save Vargas from hell, though the loss of the power of the Cinder Man caused his body to crumble away into dust. Quests *Cinders from the South - Complete Category:NPC Category:Villain Category:Deceased